A Big Quiet House

By Heather Forest

Book Overview

It is the man who changes, and the world he perceives is transformed.

With a tiny, cluttered house, giggling children, and a snoring wife, one man can't get a good night's sleep. "If only," he thinks, "I had a big quiet house " He throws off his covers and decides to visit the wise old woman at the edge of the village. Surely she can help him solve his problem and she does, but not without giving him some very unusual advice.

The woman convinces the man to fill his house with rambling animals, none of which cure his sleeping problem. Until one day, the man takes the animals back to where they belong, and he welcomes the rhythmic sound of his wife's snoring. This ancient Yiddish folktale proves that quite often, nonsense makes the best sense of all.

Susan Greenstein's bold illustrations--white pencil on black surface with watercolor - carry the reader through the warm interiors and peaceful nights of the shtetls of Eastern Europe. This story highlights the importance of perspective. Everyone has problems, however attitude can dramatically affect perception. It is the man who changes, and the world he perceives is transformed.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0874836042
• ISBN13: 9780874836042
• Release Date: December 2005
• Publisher: August House Publishers
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 8.5" x 11.0"
• Age Range: 5 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Kindergarten to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Charming and lyrical in the finest oral tradition

This is one of my favourite folktales, and Forest's adaptation, with Greenstein's witty illustrations, adds to the amusement and truth behind this classic story.In an twist from versions I've heard before, it is a village wise woman that the father in the story consults, rather than the traditional male rabbi/sage. She is just as wise as that rabbi ever was, though, leading us straight to a happy ending your kids (mine are 6 and 8) will enjoy over and over.Forest has chosen a loose, semi-rhyming scheme which is soothing but never predictable or "doggerel-ish." And the ending, though it IS predictable, is delightful when it comes, as this beleaguered "baalabos" (homeowner) is finally able to get some rest.

Wonderful Illustrations Give New Life To An Old Tale!

With children's books, more often than not it is the illustrations that bring the story to life. I have heard this story many times, in many formats but the illustrations in this edition are wonderful, vibrant, and with a wonderful woodcut quality. The illustrations give this old and somewhat tired story a new life! They are so wonderful that they would be perfect by themselves without the story line, framed as decorations for a child's bedroom-or any other part of the house for that matter.If quality illustrations, and not the typical run of the mill canned cutesy drawings, are what you value when picking a child's book than this one is for you!